2012/2013: 17th
Transfer(s) In: Modibo Diakite (Lazio, Free), Emmanuele Giaccharini (Juventus, £6.5 Million), Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar, £5 Million), Vito Mannone (Arsenal, £2 Million), Valentin Roberge (Maritimo, Free), Ondrej Celustka (Trabzonspor, Loan), El-Hadji-Ba (Le Havre, Free), David Moberg Karlsson (Free Agent, Free), Cabral (Free Agent, Free), Duncan Watmore (Altrincham, Free), Charis Mavrias (Panathinaikos, £3 Million), Ki-Sung Yeung (Swansea City, Loan), Fabio Borini (Liverpool, Loan), Andrea Dossena (Napoli, Free)
Transfer(s) Out: Danny Graham (Hull, Loan), Ahmed Elmohamedy (Hull, £2 Million), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool, £9 Million), James McClean (Wigan, Loan), Connor Wickham (Sheffield Wednesday, Loan), Matthew Killgallon, Titus Bramble, James McFadden (Released)
Transfers Review:
Without a shadow of a doubt, the Wearside team have been one of the most active in this transfer window, strengthening with no fewer than 14 players, and letting go, either permanently or temporarily, of another 8. Paolo Di Canio is clearly stamping his authority on the club, re-shaping it into the image that he finds most suitable to achieve his objectives. The eccentric Italian has made several key, and very impressive signings. Most notably, the capture of Juventus winger Emmanuele Giaccherini is quite a find for a team struggling against relegation last campaign. His Italian connections also snared the Lazio defender Modibo Diakite on a free transfer, again a highly impressive signing. The ex-West Ham star has made additions all over the field, from Vito Mannone to replace the departed Simon Mignolet, Valentin Roberge to give a bit more width to the defence, Giaccharini and El-Hadji Ba to strengthen the midfield, and American Jozy Altidore to add some goals and firepower up front. Though these signings will take time to gel, I am positive that with their collective experience, we will see a vast improvement from Sunderland this campaign.
In order to recoup some of the money outlayed on transfer fees, di Canio has also shifted some of the dead weight. The underperforming Graham and Elmohamedy both went to newly promoted Hull, lowering the wage outlay and bringing in £2 Million, both McClean and Wickham went out on loan to gain valuable experience of the league below and the big money mover was Mignolet, with the Belgian leaving for Liverpool for a reported fee of £9 Million in an attempt to balance the books.
Pre-Season:
Sunderland's pre-season consisted entirely of a tour of the UK and taking part in the Barclays Asia Trophy. During the tour of the UK, di Canio used mostly youth players, as he was seemingly too busy signing players to take part in exhibition matches! The most useful part of their pre-season was travelling to Hong Kong to take part in the Barclays Asia Trophy. In the semi-final, the Mackems were drawn against Tottenham. On an atrocious playing surface, Sunderland were dominant during the first half, taking a 2-1 lead into the break. After half time, Tottenham fought back. But Di Canio will be glad to see them weather the storm, and they sealed the win late on, with a breakaway goal. Bearing in mind that Spurs are expected to be challenging for the top 4 this season, and they are the same amount of time along in their preparations for the new season, this result was particularly impressive.
In the final, Sunderland met Manchester City. In a tight game, City stuck early through a fabulous volley from Edin Dzeko. As time went on, Sunderland managed to retain the ball better, but they lacked that killer ball to split open the City defence. On the one or two occasions when they did have a good sight of goal, the accuracy of their strikers was ever so slightly off. Nevertheless, a successful tournament for the Mackems, especially when they entered it as the 3rd best team in the competition of 4.
Key Players:
With Giaccherini on the opposite wing, I think that this will be the season that makes or breaks Adam Johnson. After his big money move from Manchester City last season, the England winger was fairly ineffective at The Stadium of Light, with his highlight being a goal in the Tyne Wear derby at St James' Park. He will need to rediscover the form that took him to the cusp of an England call up for the 2010 World Cup if he wants to hold down a regular place. I think that he is more than capable of producing good performances, and I would be surprised if he didn't return to his best this campaign.
This season is also an opportunity to right a few wrongs in English football for Jozy Altidore. The American striker previously had a brief spell in the Premier League with Hull a few seasons back, only to score once in 22 appearances. Form certainly not good enough for the top flight. However, since that disappointment the US international has been on fire in Holland, finishing last season with close to a goal a game average. He will want to dethrone Steven Fletcher at Sunderland as top goalscorer for his first objective.
Key Fixture Dates:
17/08/2013: Sunderland vs Fulham
24/08/2013: Southampton vs Sunderland
27/10/2013: Sunderland vs Newcastle
30/11/2013: Aston Villa vs Sunderland
14/12/2013: West Ham United vs Sunderland
01/01/2014: Sunderland vs Aston Villa
11/01/2014: Fulham vs Sunderland
18/01/2014: Sunderland vs Southampton
01/02/2014: Newcastle vs Sunderland
29/03/2014: Sunderland vs West Ham United
Top Goalscorer:
Though I do think that Altidore will be a success at Sunderland, I am still expecting Steven Fletcher to retain his top goalscorer status. It will inevitably take time for the American to re-acclimatize to life in the Premier League, during which Fletcher may have got out of sight, especially if he starts like last season! The Scot is deadly either in the air or on the ground, and it is even more impressive that he is achieving this with mid to lower table teams in Sunderland and Wolves before that.
Prediction:
Paolo di Canio showed us enough tactical ability last season to convince me that Sunderland will improve this season. The calibre of his signings have reinforced that opinion for me. Though they will take time to bed into the squad and get used to the English game, I feel like there will be one or two standout performers over the course of the season, propelling Sunderland up the table. I think they will finish well above last year's aberration, and they may even nip infront of their hated neighbours Newcastle for that final top 10 spot.
Sunderland 2013/2014: 10th
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